Chapter 15: A Ring of Hope & A Ring of Despair
A/N: Guess who's back… Back again… (TeenMunk2008)'s back…
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Ocker had spent the whole week teaching Alvin how to swim and fish the way he did back home. Alvin loved to swim, especially during the scorching summers where he used to throw wild pool parties back in his home and invite everyone he knew. He also remembered the number one priority of throwing a party: If you're going to throw a party, someone's going to have to clean up everything.
As for Ocker, he really enjoyed having Alvin as a student and an island mate. The two had really strongly bonded during the three months Alvin had endured here on Ocker Island. For some reason, they not only bonded as good friends, but somewhere in-between like father and son. Alvin also enjoyed having the benefit to learn something no other individual can teach him. He was counting the days until he finally departs from here. Not too soon, and with a purpose, although for some reason he kind of liked staying on the island; far away from the pressures of college, the city, and sometimes even his own family. He wanted to get away from all of that, and is thankful he finally got the opportunity.
Deep down inside, Alvin really wants to go back home; however, somewhere deeper down inside… he probably doesn't want to leave the island at all.
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Late in the afternoon saw Ocker trying to start a fire for his and Alvin's meal today. While he was building the fire, Alvin was politely asked by Ocker to go out and retrieve as many fish as he can.
Alvin would swim high and low looking for fish. He would also dive much deeper, not too deep near the troughs. The little salmon would be no match for his giant fishing net, as Alvin captured about two dozen little fish into his net. He came back up for some air, and then dove back down to see if he can catch anymore.
He was swimming for about an hour, traveled as far as a quarter mile, and caught at least fifty fish. As he continued to swim, he was blinded by something really shiny coming from the tip of a trough that caught his attention. He knew he had to get back to the island for the meal, but he swam back up, took one huge breath, and dove straight down to where the shiny thing was located. Using all of his might, he dove very deep, trying to hold his breath for a very long time, and tried to locate the shiny thing. He swam as far down as he could.
He was almost running out of air but would not give up, seeing as how he was almost 50 feet below the surface. He stopped and located the shiny thing. Having no time to observe it completely, he quickly snatched it and swam all the way back to the surface. He swam as fast as he could, feeling like his lungs were going to explode. In an instant, he made it to the surface no sweat. He would be gasping for breath for about 5 minutes and instantly returned to shore.
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As Ocker was cooking the fish, Alvin observed the shiny thing he had retrieved from the trough. It was a ring, but not just any ring. This was a ring that had been lost down there for about almost ten years. Though the chrome was a little bit faded and torn, it still looked descent enough to wear on your finger. The diamonds around it were still beautifully shining. All it needed was a little re-polishing and to be gutted a little bit and it'll be in peak position once again. It also had the initials 'EAP' on it.
"EAP" said Alvin, "what do think it means?"
Ocker stopped slicing the vegetables and thought.
"Eat… another… pineaupple?" said Ocker.
"I don't think it's a code or an acronym. I think it's a name".
"I've neva trusted anyone with two first names", said Ocker.
"Well, whosever this ring belongs to they sure are going to miss it", finished Alvin before looking up at the twilight sky, "just like I miss mine".
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(FLASHBACK)
"She'll love that ring, Alvin", replied Gavin.
"Yeah… but she loves me more".
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"Coach... Guys... Anyone?!"
His eyes were now wide open as he got off the bed. When his feet touched the floor, he felt water.
"Why is the floor wet?" he asked himself.
He looked down and saw that there was water everywhere; and then it hit him….
"OH MY GOD, THIS BOAT IS SINKING!!!"
He quickly grabbed his things, trying to put everything in his suitcase. As he packed the last of his things he spotted his engagement ring for Brittany. He had no pockets in his shorts and there was no more room left in is suitcases. He thought for a moment.
While thinking he looked at his prized Air Jordan sneakers in which he had used in the championship game. He quickly closed the box and placed it inside his right sneaker. Having no time to feel relieved, he quickly stormed out of the room and into the top deck.
(END OF FLASHBACK)
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He continued to stare up the sky until Ocker announced that dinner was ready. He decided to put it on his pinky finger and ate with it on.
"Hauve you thought of the name yet Mista Aulvin?" Alvin shook his head while devouring.
"It could be a female's name like Emily Aulyssa Paurker, or something lyke thaut", said Ocker.
"This ring kind of looks masculine", replied Alvin.
"Okay, okay, how about Earl Aunthony Paurker ?" said Ocker.
"Nope" said Alvin.
"Well thaut's aull I could come up with", finished Ocker, as he was got out some parsley for his meal.
"Aulvin, could you help me with this parsley?"
"Uh, sure Ocker".
The both were cutting the parsley and added it to their fish for a milder flavor".
"Hmm, maybe the P could be parsley?" said Ocker.
"Please, who would have 'Parsley' for a last name?" said Alvin who was pressing down on the parsley when he should be dicing it.
"At least I'm not pressing down on the parsley Mista Aulvin", finished Ocker.
Alvin stood there for a minute and though to himself.
'Press Parsley… Prarsley… Pressarsly… Press..ley…. Presley.'
As Alvin thought, Ocker added some finishing touches to his meal, until he forgot something.
"Oh, silly me, I forgot the ginger, be right bauck".
The island was full of healthy herbs Ocker used for his meals most of the time. As he got up he felt a cramp by his side and yelped in pain.
Alvin stopped thinking and rushed to help him.
"Are you okay, Ocker?"
"I'm fine my boy. Teaching you the Way of the Munk was a lot of hard work, but I seem to be getting cramps on my hip most of the time, somewhere in this area", Ocker said grabbing his side.
"You mean your groin?" replied Alvin.
"Naw, more in this region", said Ocker.
"Oh, you mean your pelvis?"
"Yes, my pelvis. Maybe thaut is whaut the P stands for?"
"Hah, yeah right. You and your pelvis's and your press-leys and your…"
Alvin stopped for a minute and though what he just said. 'Pelvis Presley?'
He laid Ocker down in the sand and looked at the initials on the ring again. There they stood, EAP. Alvin ignored the middle initial and concentrated on the first and last one. EP had to stand for something and he knew this ring belonged to someone famous.
As he was concentrating, he lied Ocker gently on the sand, who got a rock, observed it, and rolled it away.
Alvin saw the rock rolling away, and thought of the name he had said.
'Pelvis Presley… kind of rhymes with…"
And then it hit him.
"ELVIS PRESLEY!!"
"Oh I love Elvis, and thaut song he sings, what's it caulled, 'you ain't nuthin' but a hound dog' or something like thaut?"
Alvin looked at the middle initial, A. He knew that Elvis's middle name was Aaron, so the initials stood for Elvis Aaron Presley.
"Oh my god! Ocker this ring, this… ring belongs to the King of Rock n' Roll himself!!!
"Does it know? Let me hauve a look at it!"
Alvin passed the ring to Ocker had he observed it.
"Oooh., aund you found this down in the trenches?"
Alvin nodded his head.
"How on earth did it get down there?"
"Beats me, unless someone must've thrown it down there".
He stopped for a moment and started again.
"That's it! I remember back in 2001 Elvis's daughter Lisa Marie and her ex-boyfriend Nicholas Cage got in a fight in a yacht off Catalina, where she threw a ring that belonged to her father. That ring was worth $65,000 dollars.
OCKER, THIS.. IS PROBABLY THAT RING… AND I FOUND IT!!!"
"Good for you Mista Aulvin. Whaut do you propose to do with thaut ring?"
"Not sure, I mean it was worth thousands before, now it's probably worth…"
"Millions?" interrupted Ocker with a smile.
"Yeah… YEAH!!" screamed Alvin, "Oh I bet Brittany would love to hear this…. Wait, that's it, Brittany!! As soon as I get off this island I'll propose to her with this, making up for the ring I lost!!"
"Good show my boy!!! A graund way to show your return!!"
"Ah, I can already picture that day, but I need to keep this ring in someplace safe".
"Follow me to my hut, I know where you can store it", finished Ocker.
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The two walked over the hut, where Ocker showed Alvin a little cabinet to put the ring in. Alvin was so trilled to have found something that had been lost for years. He couldn't wait to get back home and tell Brittany everything he experienced on this island. Alvin opened the drawer and placed the ring in there safe and sound.
Shortly after his smile quickly faded as he had found something he probably shouldn't have or something he wanted to know why it was there. He grabbed the object and held it in his hand….
It was a shotgun.
Alvin looked at Ocker with fear and confusion.
"You have a SIG P226… a weapon, and you didn't tell me?"
"I forgot thaut was even in there", replied Ocker also confused.
"Where did you get this?" asked a worried Alvin.
Ocker stood there silent and then spoke up.
"I haud a good friend who served in the Royal New Zealand Navy. Before I was to depart on my journey with my son, he came up to me and deliberately handed me the pistol for safety and protection. I refused, but haud no other choice. I wanted to protect my son from any danger, so I foolishly accepted the weapon with regret hanging over my head. When I arrived and unloaded whaut was left of my things, I located the weapon. I desperately wanted to throw it into the ocean, but I was unaware of the dangers thaut could've lurked in this island. I hid the gun in a place where I wouldn't use it, and aufter aull this time I had forgotten it was even in there".
Alvin opened up the bullet compartment.
"There's only one bullet in here".
"I was going to shoot and waste thaut bullet, but then again something might hauppen where I would have to take adhesive auction".
Alvin didn't say anything and but the gun back in the drawer, far away from where he placed his ring.
"It's getting late, shaull we caull it a night?"
"Yeah, we probably should", said Alvin.
Alvin departed from the hut and back to his cave, thinking about the adventures he had today. He looked up at the stars one last time and pictured the day in which he returns and is reunited with not only his family and friends, but with his one true love, Brittany Miller.
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Three months… that's all Jake could ever think of… three months is exactly how long he and Brittany have been dating, and the way they were dating was simply incredible.
A few days ago they took a long barefooted walk down Huntington Beach and ended the night with dinner at an Italian cuisine in Anaheim. Yep, they were the 'perfect couple'. Everything they did together made everyone seem like they were married, when in reality they've only been dating for three whole months.
Jake lied on his bed, thinking about where his relationship with Brittany was going. It couldn't go anywhere else but up, but the biggest question was… was he ready to take it to the next level? He didn't even know where that next level was. Maybe he needed some time to himself.
He decided to go out and put gas in his Buick since it needed some. He reached for his boots from under the bed. He retrieved one but the other was all the way back against the wall. As he retrieved it, he noticed the little black box on the corner of his bed.
He had forgotten all about the ring. He opened the box where the beautiful ring shone in the light. He observed the ring and still wondered what to do with it. Disposing it and giving it away were out of the question, and he couldn't return it since he didn't pay for it. All of a sudden, he thought back on his relationship with Brittany.
They already did everything a normal pre-marital couple did, but was he really ready to take this giant leap into life? Was he really ready to commit and share every single moment with Brittany for the rest of his life?? Was he… going to take the ring that didn't belong to him and use it to propose to the woman that wasn't his in the first place??
Jake didn't know what to do. The stress was already eating him alive. He wiped off sweat from his forehead and walked over to his dresser. He reached out a picture of Alvin. It was a picture he took from when he won the National Championship for UCLA a couple months ago. He held a basketball in one hand and Brittany in his other arm. He looked real closely at the picture.
He loved Alvin as a close relative and couldn't possibly betray him like this, but… the day he asked Brittany out on their first date he thought that Brittany would never love another, and he wanted to help her no matter what the circumstances are. To him, Brittany wasn't someone you could just love and leave forever… and that's exactly what he's not going to do.
He looks at the picture one more time, slowly kisses it, and says with light tears in his eyes….
"Forgive me, Aulvin!"
He closes the ring box, starts the Buick and heads for the Miller residence.
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He parks crooked on their driveway, heads for the door and rings the doorbell. Jeanette answers the door to her surprise.
"Jake! It's Sunday. I didn't know you and Brittany were going out today".
"We're naut. I need to speak with her".
"Certainly".
Jeanette runs upstairs to retrieve Brittany, who comes running back down the stairs and into Jake's arms.
"Couldn't be away from me for more than a day?" says a very enthusiastic Brittany.
"Neva, which is why I wanted to talk to you", says Jake.
He closes the front door as the two sit down on the bench in her front porch.
"So, shoot", says Brittany.
Jake gently places his hand on her cheek, which Brittany loved a lot.
"Brittany… I aulways want whaut's best for you, and every time I see thaut beautiful face of yours I neva waunt to see any saudness of some sort".
He then took his hand off of her cheek and held both of her hands.
"When I waus alone in this new world, you were so loyal to me. You've shown me thaut friendship is neva given… it's earned, and I aum so glaud to hauve earned your friendship Ms. Brittany Ariel Miller".
Brittany smiled ever so sweetly.
"…But being your friend is naut enough for me, which is why I took the liberty to ask you to become my female companion, and I hauve shared so many wonderful moments with you, moments thaut seem endless, and my dear… I waunt those moments to continue foreva more".
Brittany was astonished by his words.
"I waunt to be with someone that I caun protect, someone who needs me, and someone who is more than willing to share every second together with me, so…."
He takes out the box from his pocket as Brittany's eyes shoot wide open.
"My dear Brittany, you are the one I love most, I treasure the moments when I hold you so close, you myte be ausking if this is a dream, but it's aus real aus our love in which we make the perfect team, I can neva go without you for more than a day, the only thing I wonder is if I'll see you today, my best friend, my soul mate, the love of my lyfe",
He takes the ring from the box and holds it up.
"… Let me put this ring on your finger and ausk you…
Will you be my wyfe?"
Brittany couldn't help but to put both hands over her mouth and gasp big.
"Jake, really??" asked Brittany very astonished.
"Brittany… the day I asuked you out to our first dinner, I vowed to myself thaut if you were to become my female companion, thaut I would swear to keep you out of harm's way and make sure you would neva be depressed, and now I waunt to make sure thaut you are foreva safe and cheerful. Whaut do you say?"
Whatever response Brittany gave him, he would be okay with that. He wasn't just doing this for his sake; he was doing this for Alvin's sake. Brittany doesn't have anyone else and he wants to make sure that she has someone to keep her safe and plentiful.
"Jake", replied Brittany,
"I… I-I… I… don't know".
Jake pulled the ring back.
"Jake I'm flattered, really I am, but… I don't know if I'm ready for something like this".
Jake now puts the ring back into the box and closes it.
"You've been really gracious to me ever since we started dating, and maybe I don't want this to end, but there are some things in life I'm just not ready for, and I think commitment is number one on that list".
Jake wipes his nose, not at all hurt by her words.
"Don't get me wrong. Everything you've for us was simply gratifying… but, maybe we need more time about this, we really shouldn't rush ourselves".
Jake nodded his head with pride.
"I undastaund. Maybe I hauve been putting too much on this. I guess now is naut the perfect time".
Brittany puts her hand on Jake's chin.
"Thank you for understanding".
She kisses his cheek.
"Well, I just dropped by to say 'ello, maybe we could laugh about this sometime this weekend I presume?"
"I'd like that", said Brittany with a smile.
"Yes, of course. Good aftanoon Brittany".
He gets up from the bench and makes his way to his Buick. He starts it up but it won't respond. He tries again, but still no dice. He just remembered that the reason he was going out was to get gas for his Buick, which he forgot to do. He then takes his gas tank from behind his seat and steps out of the truck.
"The Ol' Buckaroo needs gaus. I'm walking to the Shell station".
"That's a half-mile away. I can always drive you there", says Brittany.
"Thaut's very tempting Britt, but I caun handle this. Do you mind if I leave my truck here?"
"Not at all".
"Thaunk you. I shouldn't take long".
Jake starts heading for the gas station, leaving Brittany wondering if he really wanted to communicate with her after that little conversation. She heads back inside and up to her room. She makes her way toward her dresser, smothered in pictures of herself and Jake. She observes the pictures very closely and notices how happy she was with him by her side. In fact, in every picture she's in with Jake there is not a hint of sorrow or grief. Every moment they've shared together was a happy moment, one's in which she also considers 'endless' moments. She starts to produce tears in her eyes.
She opens up a drawer with some more pictures of herself and Jake, but to her surprise he finds one of herself and… Alvin.
She held the picture real tight. Alvin promised to be there for her forever, but now that he was gone forever she can't say if that promise is broken.
She then remembers what Jake told her earlier…
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"… the day I asuked you out to our first dinner, I vowed to myself thaut if you were to become my female companion, thaut I would swear to keep you out of harm's way and make sure you would neva be depressed, …and now I waunt to make sure thaut you are foreva safe and cheerful. Whaut do you say?"
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Brittany was overwhelmed when he said that. He has kept her secure in those three months that they were dating. Wait a minute… three months???
Brittany could tell that three months was a very short period, then again, they've done everything a normal couple has done, with the exception of 'making-love'. Brittany still believed she wasn't ready, but then again something inside was telling her that she actually… was.
Jake never did anything to upset her, and maybe… just maybe… she wants this relationship to last forever. Her mind was saying 'not yet', but her heart was telling her to 'go for it!'
Just then, she remembered something she once said.
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"…Alvin wouldn't want me to stay down and out forever. He would want me to get back on my feet and 'Go for it!' or something like that, but you know what I mean. He would want me to move on and pursue my goals and dreams. I motivated him before his games, and now he's motivating me to live a bright and wonderful future",
And that's exactly what I'm gonna do!"
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Those words did come from her. She repeats them over and over again in her head. She then whispers, "Alvin". She looks at the picture again and lets out a tear.
Without hesitating, she kisses the picture gently and says,
"Forgive me, Alvin!"
She rushes down the stairs and into her front lawn.
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Jake was now making his way back. As he was approaching the Miller's residence, a very determined Brittany stood in front of him. He was alarmed at first.
"I'm bauck, so I'll just fill 'er up and best be on my way".
"Jake", said Brittany approaching him slowly, "every night since we went out, I've carried you in my spirit. You've become a part of me that never wants to leave, a part of me that makes me feel alive".
Brittany fluttered her eyes at him, and as soon as she smiled at him, he smiled back.
"Jake… ask me again".
Jake's eyes shoot wide open now.
"Ask me again Jake… I love you!"
"Brittany…" Jake takes out the box again, opens it, takes the ring out, and this time bends on one knee,
"… will you marry me?"
Brittany closes her eyes and says with pride,
"Yes".
"Yes?" asks Jake.
"YES!!!"
Brittany jumps in his arms, causing him to fall on is back. The two kiss passionately. Jake gently places the ring on her finger, as it was a perfect fit.
As they get up, they make their way inside holding hands. Brittany is so joyous right now that she couldn't help but to tell her sisters. Three seconds later, Jeanette and Eleanor scream their lungs out, as all three sisters embrace each other tightly crying their eyes out.
Jake couldn't help but to chuckle a little and rub the back of his neck. He then stares into the sky for a short while and says,
"Aulvin. I promise to keep her safe foreva", he starts to shed tears himself.
"I love you Aulvin… and how I wish you were me ryte now".
Jake is now crying his eyes out, staring out into space.
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A/N: FINALLY!!! Another great chappie. All of you out there keep the criticism on the DL. Seriously, Jake's not such a bad guy, and also... remember that gun!!!.
I wanted to update this chapter before I start college Sunday (wish me luck!).
There's still more chapters to come, keep reading ;).